Blueberries may ward off Type 2 diabetes

Fruits, such as blueberries, taste great and have a number of positive benefits over processed snacks. (WTOP/Ed Kelleher)

WASHINGTON – Blueberry lovers have hit the jackpot.

The New York Times reports the tiny berries do more to reduce the risk of Type 2 diabetes than many other fruits.

Eating one to three servings a month decreases the risk by about 11 percent, according to the research group BMJ, which used data from three larger studies. Five servings a week cuts the risk by nearly 30 percent, according to the research.

Grapes, apples and grapefruit help reduce the risk, too, according to the research.

However, strawberries, oranges, peaches, plums and apricots do very little, researchers found.

But across the board, substituting juice for whole fruits increases the risk for Type 2 diabetes.

“Increasing whole fruit consumption, especially blueberries, apples and grapes, is important,” Dr. Qi Sun, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard and the senior author of the study, told the New York Times.

“But I don’t want to leave the impression that fruit is magic. An overall healthy lifestyle is essential too.”